Pakistan rise from the ashes to set World Cup pace

Shahid Afridi

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, (Reuters) – If anyone had told  Shahid Afridi a month ago that his troops would snap Australia’s  12-year unbeaten World Cup streak, the Pakistan skipper would  have thought April Fools’ Day had come early.
Unable to play international matches at home, tainted by a  spot-fixing scandal that robbed them of the services of Salman  Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, add in the confusion over  team and captain selections — Pakistan cricket was in disarray.

Shahid Afridi
Shahid Afridi

But just as Imran Khan had unified a World Cup-winning  Pakistan team in 1992, when they were lucky to scrape into the  semi-finals after emerging victorious in only one of their first  five matches, Afridi is proving to be an inspirational leader.
Under his guidance, the class of 2011 have cocooned  themselves from all the outside distractions and against the  odds not only snapped Australia’s 34-match unbeaten streak but  also beat co-hosts Sri Lanka to finish as Group A winners.
The win not only provided Afridi’s men with a huge morale  boost but also set them up nicely for the quarter-finals as they  will next face the fourth-placed team from Group B — which will  be decided following India’s clash with West Indies on Sunday.
Whether they face England or West Indies, Afridi and coach  Waqar Younis will pull together their combined years of  experience to draw up plans to topple the opposition, just as  they did against Australia.
“We made some good plans against these guys and the boys all  stuck to these plans,” Afridi said when asked how his men ended  Australia’s remarkable World Cup run.
“We didn’t try to take wickets early on, we tried to bowl  maiden, good overs … and all the bowlers did a great job. The  credit goes to the bowlers.”
Pakistan achieved the win even though they are far from  being the finished product.
Their openers are misfiring, Afridi has yet to get going as  a batsman and Kamran Akmal has sealed his place in the ‘Hall of  Howlers’ after some comical dropped catches.
Over the past month, Pakistan’s fumbling fielders also  provided many moments of light relief to a worldwide audience of  billions.
However, on Saturday, Afridi’s men showed what they are  capable of when they pulled off stunning catches and dived after  the ball to save numerous boundaries.
If they can maintain that level of fitness and excellence  for the next two weeks, they may well be lifting the trophy come  April 2.
While one problem was solved, others still persist.
Afridi knows he has to stop attempting “irresponsible shots  as captain” — which has so far earned him scores of 7, 16, 20,  17, 3 and 2 — at the tournament.
Openers Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad, who averaged just  15.4 runs for the first wicket in the first five matches, are  also causing Afridi and Waqar some major headaches.
With that partnership clearly not clicking, Waqar gambled on  promoting Kamran up the order to open with Hafeez against  Australia but that move backfired as it only yielded 12 runs.
“We have a problem with our openers definitely. Hopefully in  the quarter-final they will do well,” said Waqar.
“We can improve further. We need the openers to get more  runs and the team to perform better.”
Having played all their Group A matches in Sri Lanka,   Pakistan will now have to move out of their comfort zone as  their last-eight match is likely to be on the much more  spinner-friendly pitches in Bangladesh.
Waqar was confident the change of scenery would not hurt his  charges.
“We will have a complete different strategy in the  quarter-finals, regardless of how we play in Ahmedabad or in  Mirpur,” he summed up.